During the winter months of 1863 and 1864, Pleasant Valley,
situated between Elk Mountain and South Mountain had become a
Federal camp. By May 5th 1864, by orders from the War Department
in Washington, the Remount Camp in Pleasant Valley was ordered to
be broken up. The men of the camp were situated there waiting to
be re-equipped with horses. The men were ordered to Washington and
Harper's Ferry for further instructions.
The camp was not abandoned long before it was reused again by
the Department of West Virginia. Camp Distribution as it was
called was two camps as well as a hospital. Camp number one was
for unarmed infantry, dismounted cavalry and unarmed cavalry. Camp
number two was for cavalry that had horses but were waiting to be
equipped. The conditions of the camp were not of the greatest
standards. Many of the sick men were sent to other areas for the
proper treatment. Even the hospital was unsatisfactory for the
sick. By June 9th, General Julius Stahel, being relieved of field
command by General David Hunter became the commander of the
temporary Dismount Camp.
During the summer of 1864, General Lee's Army was protecting
Richmond and Petersburg. Union General U.S. Grant had Confederate
General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia under siege. The Federal
cavalry had a strong hold on the Shenandoah Valley which was a
vital agricultural area that fed the Army of Northern Virginia. If
the Shenandoah Valley stayed in Federal hands, Lee wouldn't be
able to carry on the war. By sending General Early out of
Petersburg, Lee was hoping to relieve pressure off of his lines
and General Grant would be forced to send troops away from
Petersburg to pursue Early's forces.
General Lee sent the 2nd Corps under the command of General
Jubal Early out from the trenches of Petersburg and Richmond,
Virginia. General Early pulled his troops out of Petersburg on
June 12th and Richmond on June 13th. He was ordered to march to
Lynchburg where General John Breckinridge's Army of South Western
Virginia was located and help to defend Lynchburg and liberate the
Shenandoah Valley from the Union forces of General David Hunter.
General Early reached Lynchburg on June 17th. From twelve
o'clock in the afternoon to two o'clock the next day, Union
General David Hunter attacked Early and Breckinridge. During the
night General Hunter pulled his forces back and retreated into
West Virginia. Since General Early liberated the Shenandoah
Valley, he was to continue with phase two of General Lee's plan.
This meant that Early's and Breckinridge's forces would move into
Maryland and threaten Washington and if practical send a
detachment of cavalry to Point Lookout to free the Confederate
prisoners there. This would provide Lee more manpower, something
that he desperately needed if he was to continue the war.
As the Confederate forces marched up the Shenandoah Valley they
arrived at Winchester on July 2nd where General Early ordered
General Breckinridge to proceed on Martinsburg and capture Union
General Franz Sigel. General Early would then move to Harper's
Ferry and capture the Federal garrison under the command of
General Max Webber. At Bunker Hill, Breckinridge began skirmishing
with Sigel's cavalry pushing them back into Martinsburg. Once
Breckinridge arrived at Martinsburg, he saw no Federal troops.
Confederate Cavalry had been at work destroying the telegraph wire
and capturing supplies. General Breckinridge ordered his men
toward Harper's Ferry via the Shepherdstown Road. This forced
General Sigel to retreat to Harper's Ferry.
On July 3rd, many citizens living in the Cumberland Valley and
from the Hagerstown area hearing
cannon fire in the direction of Virginia began to flee crossing South Mountain in
the wake of another Maryland Invasion. It was rumored by
many refugees that General Jubal Early was leading an army, marching toward
Shepherdstown. These citizens had every right to flee from the
invading Confederate army since the Confederate opinion was not so
strong towards Maryland's treatment of their support to the
Confederate cause. As many refugees flocked east of South
Mountain, Middletown residents doubted that another invasion was
going to take place.
On July 4th, Early's men battled around Harper's Ferry. Seeing
Maryland Heights fortified, Early decided to move his army north
and cross at Shepherdstown and Boteler's Ford. General Sigel had
made his way through Pleasant Valley with 176 wagons. General
Early rode with his army to Harpers Ferry to take the garrison
there. Generals Sigel and Webber had evacuated Harper's Ferry and
made camp upon Maryland Heights.
On July 5th, General Franz Sigel who made his headquarters upon
Maryland Heights stated that his forces consisted of two regiments
of infantry, 2,500 dismounted cavalry, two battalions of heavy
artillery, and twenty-six field guns. A portion of the Confederate
cavalry was at Boonsboro scouting for Federal troops. General
Sigel ordered General Stahel, who was located in Pleasant Valley
to skirmish with the Confederates crossing the Potomac River near
Sharpsburg. General Stahel's forces consisted of about 1,000
effectives, two companies of artillery acting as infantry and one
four-gun battery. Realizing the size of the Confederate Army
crossing the Potomac River, General Stahel instead decides to only
conduct reconnaissance of the Sharpsburg area.
General Early's Corps and General Breckinridge's Division
started to cross the Potomac River at Shepherdstown on July 5th
and continued to cross the Potomac until July 7th. Once in
Sharpsburg, Early's forces started to set up camp. The Confederate
cavalry under General John McCausland reached Hagerstown with
orders to ransom the town for $200,000. Misunderstanding the
order, McCausland only demanded $20,000.
General Stahel skirmished with Confederate troops on the
western side of Elk Mountain; General Sigel ordered him to pull
back and move toward Rohrersville and defend the area against any
Confederate troops advancing toward Maryland Heights. With
Breckinridge's troops marching toward Rohrersville, a full out
assault was not in question against the mass numbers of General
Breckinridge's troops.
Breckinridge's forces moved onto Rohrersville and a portion of
the Confederate soldiers encamped there at the base of South
Mountain while another portion of Breckinridge's men skirmished
with General Stahel's troops near Maryland Heights. The following
day at Rohrersville, Confederate troops received their much needed
supplies such as shoes.
During the Confederate concentration at Sharpsburg and
Rohrersville, Union cavalry were able to scout the Confederates
using South Mountain for intelligence from the direction of
Frederick. Lieutenant Colonel George Vernon took a portion of
Cole's Cavalry that was operating in Pleasant Valley and Maryland
Heights and ordered them to scout and harass Early's men as they
encamped. Lieutenant Colonel Vernon operated within Early's lines,
capturing many prisoners of General Johnson's Cavalry.
On July 7th, Johnson's Cavalry Brigade skirmished with a
portion of the 8th Illinois Cavalry and their artillery support at
Turner's Gap. After the skirmish, Johnson's Brigade moved toward
Frederick. Frederick was a wild scene as wagons abandoned by Union
troops escaping from Harper's Ferry. The next day, Johnson's
Brigade was ordered back to Turner's Gap where it fought off a
Union Cavalry attack.
On July 8th, Early's Army began marching toward Middletown. The
army crossed over South Mountain at two different mountain gaps.
Fox's Gap was the route of Breckinridge's men while General Early
traveled over Turner's Gap. Both of the Confederate columns
converged at the town of Middletown, where a ransom of $4,000 was
met. As Early's men approached the Catoctin Mountain, the
Confederate cavalry began skirmishing with Union troopers. That
night Early's men encamped at Middletown.
As the Confederate troops moved over South Mountain, Captain
Edward Frey skirmished with the Confederate cavalry rear guard. He
stated in a report to General Sigel that the Confederate Army was
in mass advancing on the Boonsboro Road leading to the right of
John Brown's Schoolhouse. During the afternoon, General Stahel
wrote to General Sigel that the Confederates were marching in full
force, at least a whole corps and were now marching in the
Middletown Valley.
Union General A.P. Howell wrote to General Hallack who was near
Harper's Ferry during the evening of July 8th, that he was in
possession of Crampton's Gap. He also stated that he was keeping
the Confederate prisoners there as they were captured as Early's
men crossed over South Mountain.
Early in the morning on July 9th, Major John B. Burt an
Aid-de-Camp wrote a dispatch to Major Schultze that Confederate
troops were fortifying South Mountain near the old battlefield. In
his report he also stated that two of his men were in a
Confederate camp at Wolfsville on South Mountain. The Federal
scouts stated that about fifty Confederate infantrymen were on
picket duty and that they were part of a chain of pickets that
stretched across the South Mountain from there to Boonsboro.
General Early continued his march toward Frederick. Once his
men took possession of Frederick, General Early issued a ransom
for the town in the amount of $200,000. As General Early turned
southward he ran into resistance from General Lew Wallace and
General Ricketts, who re-enforced Wallace's small force. General
Early battled with Wallace at Monocacy until the evening.
After the battle of Monocacy, Lt. Colonel Vernon's detachment
of Cole's Cavalry
was still scouting for small bands of Confederate cavalry that
were scattered throughout all of Northern Frederick County. In his
book: "Cole's
Cavalry; or Three Years in the Saddle" C. Armour Newcomer
wrote:
"Lieutenant Colonel Vernon and his small force of sixty-five
men were familiar with the country. The enemy's cavalry were
overrunning Frederick County in small detachments, gathering up
horses from the farmers. Our detachment had come upon several
small squads of Rebel Cavalrymen and either captured or
dispersed them. On our arrival in the neighborhood of Middletown
we were informed by the citizens that an old gentleman, a farmer
by the name of George Blessing, living several miles distant,
had shot one or more Rebels, and Colonel Vernon started at once
with his men for Blessing's farm. As our advance was proceeding
up the lane leading to the farmer's house they were halted by an
old gray-haired man, fully sixty-five years of age, who demanded
that they should go back, or he would shoot. The old gentleman
was partially concealed behind a large tree, with a rifle in his
hand. Colonel Vernon called him by name and informed him we were
Cole's men and had come to protect him. Mr. Blessing gave us a
hearty welcome and said he had mistaken us for the Confederates
whom he had exchanged shots with a number of times during the
day, and had driven off the enemy not an hour before, who
threatened to return and hang him and burn his property. To
prove his assertion, he led the way up to his barnyard, where
lay a dead Rebel and one in the barn, wounded. The old farmer
had some half dozen guns of different patterns; when the roving
bands of Confederates approached his house he would warn them
off, they would fire upon him, and this old patriot stood his
ground. He would do the shooting whilst his small grandson would
load the pieces. Our command remained at the farmhouse over
night and the "Johnnies" failed to put in an appearance; they
would have received a warm reception if they had returned. Our
men buried the dead soldier and left the wounded prisoner in the
hands of his captor, who promised to have him properly taken
care of."
On July 10th, Confederate cavalry were foraging South Mountain
from Monterey to
Frederick, stealing horses, and creating much alarm. During the
day Major John Burt wrote to General Couch who was at Chambersburg
that about 3,000 cavalry under General Bradley Johnson was in
Lewistown and Creagerstown. Another 7,000 Confederate
cavalry were at Smoketown. He also confirmed that the Confederate
troops were fortifying South Mountain and that General Imboden,
with about 1,500 men came down the west side of South Mountain
sending a small detail of men into Smithsburg eight miles from
Waynesboro, Pennsylvania.
Captain Maxwell Woodhull who was serving as Acting Assistant
Adjutant-General wrote a dispatch to Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence
that General Morris wanted a cavalry to scout the area near South
Mountain at Black Rock Bridge. Reports were of Confederate cavalry
and a section of artillery moving along the Westminster and
Baltimore Pike, moving from Boonsboro. The Westminster and
Baltimore Pike was a roadway that led from Hagerstown over South
Mountain at Wolf's Tavern and at the Catoctin Mountain to
Emmitsburg and continued to Westminster.
From the banks of the Monocacy River, the Confederate Army
continued their journey to Washington. By July 11th, Early was
within sight of the ring of forts that surrounded Washington. He
sent forward his skirmishers. After hearing reports of Union
re-enforcements from Petersburg, General Early on the night of
July 12th, began to retire from Washington and headed for Leesburg
where he would take his army to the safety of Virginia.
After Early's invasion, Pleasant Valley became Headquarters of
the Department of West Virginia under the command of General
George Crook. General David Hunter on July 27th wrote to General
Halleck that after inspection by General Crook, he has not over
7,000 men who will fight and the dismounted cavalry he stated:
"Are perfectly worthless".
On July 28th, in a correspondence to the War Department, a new
formation was put in motion for a new division called the Third
Division, however this was revoked. Instead the troops were
designated as Third Brigade of the First Division under the
command of Colonel J.M. Campbell.
Union General David Hunter sent a dispatch to General Halleck
that stated that a Confederate force was moving to Snicker's Gap.
In order to protect the roadways that led into Baltimore and
Washington, General Halleck ordered General Crook and General
Wright if necessary to unite at South Mountain or Monocacy
Junction depending on the location of where the Confederate
troopers ford the Potomac River.
By late July, General Early ordered his army north, and split
his army into two columns. The first column under the command of
General John McCausland, was sent forth to Chambersburg, PA, while
the second column under General Early himself set forth to
Moorefield W.V. Some independent Confederate cavalry units
operated independently along the Maryland Border. The Union Army
took action in protecting its communities along the Mason and
Dixon Line.
On July 28th, an unusual order arrived for General McCausland.
General Early had enough of the new Federal policy of destruction.
Later McCausland wrote: "My men had just dismounted and were
making camp and getting ready to eat what rations they could find.
I was sitting there on my horse talking to Nick Fitzhugh, my
adjutant, when a courier handed me a dispatch from Early. I opened
it up and when I read those first lines I nearly fell out of the
saddle. He ordered me in a very few words to make a retaliatory
raid and give the Yankees a taste of their own medicine."
Early had selected Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, as the location
of where the retaliation would be made. General Early demanded
$100,000 in gold or $500,000 in U.S. currency in compensation for
the homes destroyed by Union General Hunter in the Shenandoah
Valley near Lynchburg. The town's leading citizens could not or
would not pay and McCausland, ordered torches to be ignited. Soon
three quarters of the town was fully in flames, the Confederate
response to the atrocities of the Union army were now a matter of
open policy ordered from Washington's War Department.
On July 30th, around 11:30 a.m. General H. W. Halleck sent word
to General Hunter that as of 3 a.m. the enemy entered Chambersburg
in three columns. A detachment of Hunter's Cavalrymen were ordered
to march by South Mountain toward Emmitsburg. General Halleck
stated that it was absolutely necessary that he know where the
Confederates were marching to in order to send re-enforcements. By
3:00 p.m. General Halleck sent another dispatch to General Hunter
stating that Clendenin's Cavalry was ordered to scout toward
Emmitsburg and send back information on a rebel force that had
entered Chambersburg. Meanwhile, General Lew Wallace sent a
detachment of the Twenty-first Pennsylvania Cavalry, under the
command of Captain J. C. Hullinger to march to Waynesboro via
Emmitsburg. Also a Signal Camp was opened at Emmitsburg by Chief
Signal Officer Amos M. Thayer relaying messages to the cavalry
stationed at Emmitsburg as they waited.
General Halleck ordered General Hunter to advance to the
eastern side of South Mountain and occupy Crampton's Gap and the
other South Mountain Passes. General Hunter sent a small cavalry
force to occupy Turner's Gap in order for them to communicate with
him by courier if any Confederate troop movements appeared in the
area.
On July 31st, General Hunter was moving toward Emmitsburg and
sent General Crook on the road to Middletown and General Wright on
the road to Frederick. The Federal Departments, fearing an absence
of troops of the eastern side of South Mountain toward
Emmitsburg
began to follow up on the pursuit of the Confederate troops of
McCausland's Cavalry. McCausland turned due west toward Bedford
Valley the Federal Departments would now follow up and pursue
McCausland's Cavalry through South Mountain to Williamsport and
then onto Hancock.
Following the days after the raid on Chambersburg, several
regiments from the Department of West Virginia were encamped near
Wolfsville. The 11th West Virginia Infantry Battalion, General
Duffie's First Cavalry Division and Second Brigade, First Infantry
Division all were encamped in the fields surrounding Wolfsville.
On August 1st, Lieutenant Ellis reported from High Rock that
Chambersburg was burned. After the burning of Chambersburg,
Pennsylvania, Generals Johnson's and McCausland's Cavalry Brigades
rode toward Cumberland, Maryland, to disrupt the B&O Railroad. The
Confederates destroyed the vital bridges along the B&O Railroad at
Flocks Mill near Cumberland.